The discussion revolves around the challenges of communicating complex equations, particularly partial differential equations (PDEs), via e-mail. Participants explore various methods for effectively sharing and discussing these equations in a digital format.
Participants generally agree on the difficulty of communicating equations via e-mail and propose various methods, but no consensus exists on the best approach or tool to use.
Some participants express limitations in their knowledge of available LaTeX implementations and tools, indicating a dependence on specific software and operating systems.
This discussion may be useful for individuals involved in academic or professional fields requiring the exchange of complex mathematical equations, particularly those seeking effective communication methods in digital formats.
RJ Emery said:In communicating with others via e-mail, it is quite difficult to render equations in ASCII text, particularly something like a complicated PDE. When the need arises to exchange involved equations with others, and to discuss those equations, what is a good way to accomplish that?
Yes, that is more or less the way I do it, too. However, it involves publishing, and that form makes it difficult for respondents to re-edit the work.cristo said:This is quite an annoying problem. What I normally do is either attach a pdf with the equations on or, if it's a simple equation, just write in tex.
I am aware of Teχ and LaTeχ but not have kept up with all the available implementations. While a web-based LaTeχ tool is intriguing, I still would rather have a WYSIWYG system resident on my own computer. The only WYSIWYG implementation I know of is Scientific Word from MacKichan Software, but that will not be on Linux until next year.-Job- said:You could use Latex to compile the equation into an image and then insert it into the email.